A sixth inning home run by sophomore Lexi Overstreet sent the No. 10 Lady Vols softball team to its third straight NCAA Super Regional and seventh all-time.
Tennessee only needed to win one of two games in the Regional final against Lipscomb to advance, but the Lady Vols took care of business in the first game by a score of 2-0.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls for fighting like they did,” co-head coach Karen Weekly said. “A Regional final is always a tough game to play. We’re where we want to be going to our seventh Super Regional.”
The game was marked by the pitching duel between UT senior Ellen Renfroe and Lipscomb’s Ashley Anderson.
Tennessee (44-10) seemed troubled for much of the game by the imposing 6-foot-2 Anderson, who held the high-scoring Lady Vols scoreless for the first five innings one day after they hit a school record six home runs against Virginia Tech.
“The kids were probably swinging out of the zone too much early on,” Weekly said. “She was throwing that drop ball in the dirt with two strikes, and we weren’t laying off it. Later in the game, we moved them up in the box. I think our kids had finally seen enough.”
It took until the sixth inning until they had seen enough.
Sophomore Haley Tobler hit a leadoff single off Anderson to set up Overstreet, who had struck out twice already, for the game winning at-bat.
“I had to flush it and refocus and get a pitch,” Overstreet said, who is 3-for-7 with two home runs, five RBIs in the first three games of the NCAA Tournament. “She was going to throw you a pitch early in the count. We just had to hit the pitches that she was throwing and lay off the ones that she was throwing balls.”
The two-run homer ended up being enough to win the game for Tennessee due to the lights out pitching of Renfroe.
“You just saw a look in her eye,” Weekly said. “When I was giving the sign, I saw this look of determination. They were not going to score. That’s Ellen. When she has that tough look, that determined look, she was going to hold that lead no matter what.”
Renfroe notched her 28th complete game of the season and 11th shutout as she went the full seven innings with 10 strikeouts while only allowing three hits and no walks.
In three games over the weekend, Renfroe pitched 15 scoreless innings in which she recorded 14 strikeouts and only allowed and gave up nine hits.
The difference, Renfroe said, was that she learned to enjoy herself and have fun rather than putting all the pressure on herself.
“When you make it all about performing, it’s going to get really draining,” Renfroe said. “You’re not going to be on your A-game every time you step on the field. If you’re just happy when you’re on your A-game, it’s going to be a long season.”
The Lady Vols will now travel to Norman, Oklahoma for a rematch of last year’s Women’s College World Series finals against the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners. Despite tremendous success in the NCAA Tournament, especially since the days of Monica Abbott, Tennessee is still searching for its first title.
The Sooners (48-10) will be without their All-American pitcher from last year, Keilani Ricketts, who graduated last year after her team took two out of three games against the Lady Vols to win the National Championship.
Tennessee is 6-0 all-time in NCAA Super Regionals and is looking to stay undefeated again this year.
“We’re excited about it. Our kids are excited about that potential matchup. They’re excited about the opportunity to go out there and hopefully make it a long stay in Oklahoma City.”
The three game series against the Sooners in the Super Regionals will begin Thursday, May 22.
